Paranoid
by tere moto the sentry
Summary: Oneshot. Dib is sick in bed, and terrified that Zim will take advantage of him in his condition. But his archenemy isn't the only thing he has to worry about.


Author's Note: Here's a one-shot to celebrate my one-year fan-iversary on this site.

Paranoid

_A deep breath. Now listen. Deep breath. Listen. Breathe. Listen._ It took all of the little boy's concentration to keep this rhythm going. He had been shook up, sweating, and breathing heavily for an hour now, and the heavy breathing made it hard to listen closely, so he had decided to create this pattern. The sound of himself inhaling deeply and exhaling, and the feel of his congested chest rising and falling gently tempted him to fall asleep. The soft, downy bed cushioning his aching body, the peaceful sound of the rain falling outside…it lulled him almost into rest. Even the toasty fever grew heavier on his forehead as if trying to overpower him to close his eyes.

But a small _clink_ in the corner of his room reminded him that it was dangerous for him to sleep, though he knew plenty of rest was essential in his condition. His eyes wide to keep them from closing, he squinted at the area he'd heard the sound from. One of his model spaceships had fallen off the edge of a shelf. _Only an object…only an inanimate object._ _Wait-_ Dib was gripped with another fear. _Had it really only fallen by itself? And…had he put it on the shelf in the first place? So close to the edge? What if-_

He stopped. Now he remembered. That's where he had set it a few weeks ago, and he may have brushed up against it from time to time and not noticed how close it had traveled to the edge.

Ignoring the tremors that plagued every inch of him, Dib, in a vain attempt to comfort himself, drew the bedcovers to his chin and let his head sink back into the pillow. It was a dark afternoon. The wind whistled once in a while and made the boy jump. Every so often the floor would creak, or people would start chatting on the sidewalk beyond the yard-and Dib couldn't stand it. Every sound brought the same racing thoughts to mind.

'_He's here-in the house-in my room-maybe under the bed.'_

It gave Dib the urge to turn on the light, perhaps to see if…_he_…was there, or as if the boy felt that doing so would drive away the monsters of the dark. Perhaps it was both. He did want to keep a vigilant watch, and the light…well, it had always kept the monsters away when he was younger, and sometimes…he felt it still did. But the light switch was on the far wall. His sister had earlier taken the lamp off of his nightstand and placed it out of his reach. Dib couldn't leave bed. He wasn't even able to sit up on his own, and when he was in sitting position he felt too dizzy to concentrate on anything else. His body ached and felt weak, and he'd grappled with fever-induced delirium for the past few days. It made him feel vulnerable, open to attack…in danger…because a certain someone would know from his absence that he was probably sick. And he was terribly so; the outlook for the next several days wasn't much better, and it terrified him, not for his health, but for the fact that he would be unable to fend off an attack from-

There were voices downstairs, several of them. They broke off and were replaced by new ones. Dib strained to make out words.

"New…extra flavor…available…even more…"

Channels being flipped on the T.V. Dib breathed a much needed sigh of relief-

A slam of metal on metal.

'_Gaz is getting something out of the cabinet-'_

A mechanical hum.

'_She's using the microwave.'_

"_You're so paranoid," he remembered his sister telling him that morning, "Zim's not going to break in."_

"_I _want_ to believe that, Gaz," Dib shuddered before breaking into a coughing fit that left his sides aching. "But what if-"_

"_He's _not_," she insisted, "Trust me. Now shut up and go to sleep. And I do _not_ want to hear you screaming." She started to leave his room, but he spoke again and stopped her._

"_Then can you prove it to me?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Could you-" Dib began coughing roughly again, "-stay with me? Just to calm me down? I'm all shook up and it's driving me crazy."_

_Gaz had rolled her eyes. "No."_

"_Please, Gaz?"_

"_Do you trust me?"_

"_Well, yes, but-"_

"_Then shut up and go to sleep!" she demanded callously. "I'm not going to make sure big bad Zim doesn't hurt poor little Dibby."_

"_That's probably for the best," he had told her, "you'd get hurt if you were in his way."_

As much as Dib wanted Gaz's presence in his room for comfort, he decided that his younger sibling's safety from his archenemy came before his own in his mind.

He heard footsteps outside his door, but tried to keep at ease.

"Hi, Gaz," he said in a scratchy whisper.

No answer.

The footsteps stopped. A hand began to toggle the knob on the other side of the door and then paused, as if whoever was there was either deciding whether or not to enter, or they were trying to frighten him even more. The knob slowly turned-there was another pause-and the door opened.

A figure of Dib's height stepped in and closed the door. In the darkness, Dib could only make out a shadow with a pair of gloves, a pair of boots, a dress-like uniform, and a pair of bending antennae.

"Zim…you'd better…get out!" the boy said as loudly as he could in his hoarse voice. He tried his best not to let Zim know he was scared to death.

Zim took a step closer. _Gaz. Did she know the alien was here? It was silent downstairs…_

"What have you done with Gaz?" he demanded. Zim reached a hand out and formed a fist.

"_Dib…_" he said in a hateful whisper.

Dib risked a glance at the lamp sitting on the floor._ Light chased the monsters away…light chased the monsters away…_

"Go away, Zim-go _away_!" The boy shrank back.

The Irken crept closer.

"Pretty low of you to prey on a sick enemy, you know," he spat.

The fist came into the light from the window. Dib's heart raced. He almost wanted to jerk his gaze away, to prevent seeing the alien's face.

As if reading his thoughts, the figure took one more step…

Far beyond panic, Dib prepared for the imminent torment.

His adversary leaned towards him-

The light illuminated Gaz's face. A wide grin, her hair pinned up to look like antennae…She laughed as she watched her brother trembling and taking in short gasps of air.

"Told you you're being paranoid." Gaz grinned, taking her hair down, the same Gaz, his same sister…the same sister he had trusted only hours before.

As he lay there staring at his sister, Dib still felt like turning on the light.

He watched Gaz laugh at his expense and then leave the room, shutting the door behind her, leaving him alone in the dark again. Still trembling, Dib wiped away a betrayed tear and held tightly to the covers, whimpering. He tried to close his eyes a few times, but knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep for a while.

Maybe Dib _was _paranoid.

But maybe he had _another_ good reason to be.


End file.
